


it’s spoopy season, bitches

by joisattempting



Series: look over there it's a wild falsettos college au [7]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Angst and Humor, Backstory, F/F, F/M, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Humor, M/M, Movie Night, charlotte is a badass, i’m not over these costumes wkfnshfhsh, mendel is given the heimlich, mendel seeks revenge, the costumes are so cursed i, the ending is bad ew, they watch the shining, this is supposed to be a crackfic why is there angst, we get an insight kinda into Marvin’s Tragic Backstory™️, whizzer eats all the candy, wow the title is cringe, you guessed it folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 15:37:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21273572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joisattempting/pseuds/joisattempting
Summary: the gang celebrates halloween.





	it’s spoopy season, bitches

**Author's Note:**

> yes i know this is a day late i’m sorry  
thank you to @exexlovers for helping me with costume ideas! cordelia’s still makes me laugh so much agjsbgd
> 
> i hope you all enjoy! i had so so so much fun writing this
> 
> comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!
> 
> tw: mentioned eating disorders, mentions of choking and the heimlich maneuver

“Dee, I’m not so sure about this,”

Ah, Halloween. When children pestered strangers for candy, and everyone above the socially-acceptable trick-or-treating age stayed in, getting drunk and binging on chocolate, all the while watching some shitty horror film with a handful of friends. That was, at least, how it worked with Marvin’s group of crackheads. He wasn’t complaining, not at all. Having grown up in a no-nonsense, austere household, he’d never been one for trick-or-treating and dressing up. However, to his chagrin, his friends took Halloween very seriously. 

It had all started during junior year of high school. A lot of things began then, including their friendship, and the whole five-act Shakespearean play that could be informally dubbed as “Marvin’s eating disorder”. Cordelia had found herself home alone, her popular older brother being at a party and her parents out on date night. So, she made lemonade with the hypothetical lemons life had thrown at her; the five people she called friends came over, everyone in some sort of costume, save for one. Cookies were made, then demolished as they watched Nightmare Before Christmas. Eyebrows and suspicions both rose when Marvin’s plate lay untouched. Although, he had to admit, it wasn’t exactly the worst day of life. It was better than locking himself up in his dreary, bland bedroom and staring out the window at the innocent little kids, decked out in intricate, handmade Halloween costumes, toddling from house to house in pursuit of candy. Yes, his friends’ worried glances at his full plate had him uneasy, but all was forgotten when an oblivious, younger version of Whizzer made a grab for his plate. Marvin didn’t recall ever being more grateful for his friend’s eating habits that were almost as queer as he was.

He supposed it became a routine. All six of them saved the date, and cancelled any plans if they had any. Whizzer always set up his camera and took a picture of the six of them on the same couch at Cordelia’s house, in the same seats. Things changed, of course, once they got to college, but everything looked somewhat similar despite all the differences. Sometimes Marvin liked to stare. Look at all the pictures tacked up on the wall he and Whizzer shared, and see how far he’d come. From shamed to sickly to somewhere in between. He was proud, if he did say so himself. But that wasn’t the point. The point was, ladies and gents, that he was currently standing in the aforementioned bedroom with a certain blonde lesbian, who had come up with their cursed paired costume idea (he refused to be one of the Sailor Moon characters with Whizzer). 

“What are you talking about? This is the best idea I’ve ever had,” Cordelia replied, adjusting her headpiece.

“I don’t even get what our costume is,”

The girl sighed, gesturing towards her costume as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m a hydroflask, idiot. And you’re a VSCO girl. It’s a meme,”

Marvin stared at his reflection in the mirror. He really didn’t know what he was getting himself into when agreeing to her vague proposition. But Marvin refused to admit that it was comfortable. He wore a size large sunset-orange T-shirt with the words “SAVE THE TURTLES” in block letters embroidered into the fabric, courtesy of Trina. Having been forced to go shopping for a pair of short-shorts, the shirt was matched with a set of black ones from Nike, at which the cashier had looked at him strangely while he paid for those godforsaken shorts. His famous chili socks also featured, as well as ugly green Crocs he didn’t remember buying. Cordelia had adamantly insisted he wear a shell necklace, so he did. That didn’t mean he never complained about it, however. As he eyed the weird bun thing at the crown of his head, he could only imagine Whizzer’s comments and playful remarks, and he suddenly grew even more self-conscious, if that was even possible.  
“I look stupid,”

The blonde scowled. “At least you’re not wearing a fucking cardboard cylinder,” 

“Can we go into the living room already? I want to get all the laughing over with,”

In factuality, it was really only Whizzer who’d laughed - Trina and Charlotte didn’t get it, and Mendel was still trying to figure out why the fuck someone would dress up as a water bottle. Marvin attempted to string together a witty, offhand comment about the other man’s pigtails and short skirt, but failed. His Sailor Moon outfit was scarily accurate. Comic-Con worthy accurate. And why, for an evanescent moment, did it feel like the AC was broken? 

“I still don’t understand,” Charlotte, who’d thrown together a half-assed cat outfit, said. “What exactly is your costume, Cordelia?”

“For the twenty millionth fucking time, I’m a hydroflask,”

“Dee, darling-“

“Let me live my life, Charlotte,” 

“Can we watch the movie now, guys?” Trina piped from her seat on the couch beside Mendel. They too had done a paired costume, settling on Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler, which was borderline unoriginal, yet also borderline unique. Like Whizzer’s, their outfits were complete with delicate embroidery and fiddly little intricacies. Christ, those two could sew. Mendel even wore a disgusting powdered wig. Apparently, those were still available for sale. 

“What are we watching?” Cordelia said, sitting down beside her girlfriend, albeit with some difficulty because of her very creative costume.

Whizzer opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by Trina, who smoothed out the creases on her blue Eliza dress. “I don’t care what you say, Whizzer, we are not watching Lights Out. My sister dared me to watch it once, and I broke the TV by throwing the remote at it when I saw the monster,”

Mendel couldn’t stop sneaking glances whenever she absently brushed back her bangs. He’d become her resident hairdresser after the time she’d cried on his bed, and they spent the early hours of the morning together. Back in the simpler times of the very late nineties, he’d cut his sisters’ hair all the time. He was practically a professional. 

And so, all five of them launched into an argument over what movie they were watching. Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t new. Every Halloween since high school, they somehow always ended up in a petty fight. This year, Whizzer still protested for Lights Out, with Trina refuting all his arguments. Marvin found himself backing the other man up, using his most persuasive words. Trina suggested Psycho, but the idea was quickly turned down because everyone knew that Mendel and Charlotte would point out any medical inaccuracy they could find. Nobody could take each other seriously, not when Cordelia was dressed as a water bottle and Mendel had on an unflattering wig from the 1700s. 

“Mendel, the shower scene isn’t even scary,”

“Is it wrong that I always laugh at that part?”

“Yes, Dee, it is. I understand the music can be used as a meme, but that’s a sin,”

“You know what’s also a sin? Eating chips fifteen minutes before dinner,”

“Oh my God, Dee-“

“Guys!” Mendel screamed over the din. “The Shining,” Reluctant agreements were voiced, and Marvin turned on their flat-screen, graciously gifted to them by Whizzer’s mom as a housewarming gift. Many texts of thanks were sent, because none of the apartment’s residents had the money to get a remotely expensive TV. She’d even agreed to pay for the Netflix, and her son thanked her over the phone every week on their annual Skype call.

Sometimes Marvin felt jealous of Whizzer’s relationship with his mother, who indiscreetly doted over her youngest son, putting up with his tantrums and childish mistakes and always being there to encourage him on his journey to speech and movement. The only affection his mother had really showed Marvin was when he grew sickly and far, far too thin, when she’d tell him how handsome he looked and to keep up with whatever horrible, twisted things he’d do to himself to earn her approval. Yet Mrs Brown had instantly taken a liking to him when they first met when Marvin was seventeen. He remembered his shock when the lady would fuss over him, encircling his wrist with her hand and constantly telling him how she could feel his ribcage when she hugged him. Profusely she’d said he could tell her anything, whether the topic be his obvious disorder, family issues, or another subject entirely, but Marvin couldn’t bring himself to do it. Someone so kind, so gentle, so patient, didn’t deserve to be burdened with any of this. 

“Whizzer, can you not hog the candy bowl?” Charlotte sighed exasperatedly, when he held it out of her reach. 

From a place unknown to the others, Mendel produced a decently-large pack of Reese’s peanut butter cups. “It’s cool, we can share these. I got them specially for this situation,”

Trina gasped, snatching the bag from her friend’s hands. “Sweet vengeance,”

Pouting childishly, Whizzer stuck up the middle finger at the psychology major. “I should’ve never told you about my nut allergy,”

Marvin offered him a small smile, shifting closer to him on the floor. “Hey, at least you have it all to yourself now,”

He wasn’t upset when Marvin grabbed something from the bowl. 

Around halfway through the movie, Mendel choked on a peanut butter cup because of a jumpscare, which immediately sent Charlotte into doctor mode. She was just getting ready to perform the Heimlich maneuver when the man stopped choking. Marvin, eyes glued to the screen, was clutching Whizzer’s arm for dear life, absentmindedly squeezing the muscles. Holy fuck, his muscles. Marvin eyed his own arm with distaste. He should work out sometime. 

“I’m gonna remind you of today when we’re fifty, ‘Del,” Cordelia giggled. Her costume was positively creased at this point, but she seemed determined to stay in it until everyone went to bed. Removing it wouldn’t be easy, considering a cylinder of blue-painted carboard was taped around her body. Underneath, she had on a T-shirt of the same colour and a pair of sweats, so she could take off the cardboard without missing any of the movie by going to the bathroom to change. 

“Those twins are fucking terrifying,” Mendel said, in his defence. 

“That’s karma for getting peanut butter cups when you know I’m allergic,” Whizzer grumbled around a candy bar. Was it his fifth, sixth? Everyone had lost count at this point. “Marvin’s going to sue you for me after we graduate,” 

Chuckling, Marvin raised his eyebrows. “I am?” 

“Yes you fucking are. I’m hiring you. You better do a good job,”

Conversation dipped for a bit, all of them riveted by the movie’s plot. Various random items were thrown at the TV in fear, including the remote and an empty Reese’s cup wrapper. Mendel had choked again, and this time was actually given the Heimlich, which was far more entertaining to the others than whatever was happening on-screen. After another choking incident and many more awkward arm clutches on Marvin’s part, The Shining’s credits began to roll, and Whizzer sluggishly got to his feet. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, he’d managed to unknowingly finish the bowl. 

“Where you going?” Trina asked him. 

“Getting my camera, so we can take the picture,” he replied, twirling one of his little pigtails around his finger. “Also, I’m putting on sweats. This costume somehow feels, like, fifty sizes too small,”

“I wonder why,” Cordelia teased, raising an eyebrow. Whizzer stuck his tongue out at her, before disappearing into his shared bedroom.

Five minutes later, he returned, camera around his neck. He still wore his sailor shirt and the signature tiara, and the pigtails were still intact, but they looked strange and out of place when paired with the oversized grey sweatpants he’d thrown on. He never actually featured in the photos he took, because he was the one behind the camera, but Marvin’s sneaky, unflattering pictures of him more than made up for it. In every photo, they all sat in the same positions; Marvin on the floor, Trina and Mendel huddled together on the left, and Charlotte and Cordelia took the right with their arms draped around each other’s shoulders. 

The shutter opened and shut, and Whizzer glanced at it. “That’s going on the wall, for sure,”  
When they all resumed whatever they’d been doing before, he snapped another photo. Because he found he was more partial to those. It was crazy, how much they’d changed. Dee’s hair length differed from photo to photo, as did Marvin’s body and Mendel’s entire appearance. But they were maturer in every photo, Whizzer could see it in their eyes. He was proud of their group, even though he never said so. They’d waded through such deep seas, all the while holding hands. None of them had even turned twenty-one yet. 

He liked to write little captions at the bottom of his pictures in his untidy, large scrawl with a special, fine-lined silver pen. This year’s in particular made him smile.

31.10.19/Mendel Commits A Crime


End file.
